qui est-ce ?
Who is he? In French is usually asked as qui est-ce ?, the everyday question for finding out who a person is.
Use qui est-ce ? when you see or hear about a man and want to know who he is. It works for any person you want identified.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, qui est-ce ? means who is it, rather than who is he.
Which one should you use?
Qui est-il ? is the more direct translation of who is he and refers only to a male person. qui est-ce ? is more neutral. In casual speech people also say C'est qui, lui ? or ask Tu sais qui c'est ?, do you know who he is.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Qui est-il ? is the formal way to ask. c'est qui ? and C'est qui, lui ? are informal and common in spoken French.
Did you know?
- The word qui is believed by some linguists to be onomatopoeic in origin, mimicking a sound of inquiry.
- While qui est-ce ? is the standard way to ask 'who is he?', the phrase c'est qui ? is so common in spoken French that it completely reverses the traditional word order of a question.
- While qui est-il ? is the grammatically 'correct' way to ask 'who is he?', it can sound strangely stiff or overly dramatic in a modern conversation, much like a character in a 19th-century novel.
Examples in context
- Vous avez rencontré Monsieur Dupont ? Qui est-il ?Did you meet Mr. Dupont? Who is he?
- Il a fait une présentation excellente lors de la conférence. Je me demande qui il estHe gave an excellent presentation at the conference. I wonder who he is
- Regarde ce garçon là-bas. C'est qui, lui ?Look at that boy over there. Who is he?
- J'ai vu un homme étrange dans le parc. Tu sais qui c'est ?I saw a strange man in the park. Do you know who he is?
- Qui est-ce ? C'est mon frère.Who is it? It is my brother.
- Désolé, mais qui est-ce ?Sorry, but who is he?
Example conversation
Nathan and Emma are looking at a photo.
- NathanRegarde cette photo. Qui est-ce ?Look at this photo. Who is he?
- EmmaC'est mon frère, Nathan.It is my brother, Nathan.
- NathanIl a l'air très gentil.He looks very kind.
- EmmaOui, il est vraiment sympa.Yes, he is really nice.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries qui, CC BY-SA 4.0.
